Do you know what animals got to fly in the first hot air balloon over 200 years ago? It was a sheep, a duck and a chicken, and they flew over France for eight minutes. How long can you fly? Where would you go?

Instructions

1. Sit on your heels and inflate your balloon.
2. Take little sips of air and pump your arms upward little by little. When you’ve sipped in as much air as you can, your balloon is filled.
3. Bring your hands over your head to show the balloon rising slowly upward.
4. Get up and fly around.
5. To land your balloon, blow out through your mouth and empty your lungs. Make noises like air escaping and collapse on the ground like an empty balloon.
6. Fall into Child’s Pose as you collapse. Rest.
7. When you’re ready, pump up your balloon again. Where will you fly this time?

Note to Parents and Teachers

For very young children, this pose is a great introduction to breathing. Our lungs fill like balloons when we breathe in (inhalation) and deflate or empty when we breathe out (exhalation). Inflate your balloons together. Time it so you fill at the same time. Fly around together in a hot air balloon dance and then deflate in a gentle heap… snuggle, giggle and wiggle together. How many times can you go up, up and away and come back down?

Activity Ideas for Home or Classroom

We All Win/Awesome Anatomy
Blow up real balloons. Rub them to create friction to stick to your body. Take turns passing the balloon using your different body parts: armpits, wrists, quadriceps, sacrum, and quadriceps. Say the name of the body part as you pass the balloons.

Laughing Language/Visual Vignettes
Fantasize with your child abd make up a story about where you would go in your hot air balloon. Who would you take with you? What do you see? Write the story down or draw pictures.